Whether you’re a Canadian business owner looking to hire American employees or an American manager staffing a Canadian expansion, you know exactly how much stock your organization places in your people. Human capital is often one the biggest assets any company has. In fact, many experts now theorize people are one of the only things that set organizations apart from their competition.

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As with anything in business, building and maintaining human capital comes with risks. People you’ve spent years training may decide to leave. Hiring a new person has inherent risks. There are also risks associated with labour laws and compliance, some of which can turn into costly legal matters. Accidents and injuries are other risks.

These five methods can help you manage and mitigate some of the risks associated with human capital in North America.

1. Plan Ahead for Risks

The first thing you should do is identify the risks associated with your human capital on both sides of the border. What are the costs associated with an unmotivated or disengaged employee? What are the risks of hiring someone who isn’t the right fit?

Keep in mind that risks extend beyond hiring and dismissing employees. Many accidents and injuries take place in the workplace, which pose risks to you in terms of talent loss and legal costs.

Don’t wait for the worst to happen. Instead, identify the risks and create a plan to deal with them as they arise in the business.

2. Foster a Positive Workplace Culture

Many of the human capital risks for North American businesses involve employee behaviour. A disengaged employee is a flight risk, but they might also engage in unethical behaviour. Employees who are under pressure to perform may not act ethically either. Still other employees may abuse positions of power.

You can avoid many of these problems by building a positive work culture in your organization. Determine your values and communicate them to employees. Then walk the walk. If you say you value employee feedback, be sure to collect it and act on it.

Put some emphasis on valuing your people, and, in return, they’ll value your company.

3. Change How You Conceptualize Risk

While the traditional HR approach to managing human capital risk is solid, you might want to take cues from some of the other divisions in your organization. How does the IT department approach risks? What about the financial division?

One way to see risk is not as a risk, but as an opportunity to optimize uncertainty. You don’t know which employees will be star performers and which ones won’t quite fit the bill when they start. Take steps to manage this uncertainty. In doing so, you’ll increase the chances you’ll find more star performers.

4. Use Data to Inform Strategies

You collect workforce data; put it to good use. Don’t just collect it. Instead, organize and analyze it.

By doing so, you can discover the insight you need to make better decisions. Determining where your risks are can provide you with the knowledge you need to develop a better risk management strategy.

5. Work with the Experts

Human capital risk management across borders comes with many challenges. You may not be familiar with the local labour market, for example, or you might not be familiar with regulations around the hiring process.

Working with experts on either side of the US-Canada border can help you manage your risks more effectively. It’s particularly helpful when you’re navigating the legal waters around your HR operations.

These tips can help you reduce and mitigate various human capital risks in your operations. By doing so, you’ll set up your company to grow its human capital and succeed in almost any market you enter.